“Venezuela will not allow interference from the US”
translated by Pedro Luis Hernández Vallejo and Celia Silva
One of the most heated debates during the Ibero-American Summit has revolved around the freedom of the press. In this topic, all present states turned their attention towards Venezuela, due to the country’s questionable practices against freedom of expression.
Now, the delegate from Venezuela responds.
Eduardo: What does freedom of expression mean for Venezuela?
Venezuela: Freedom of expression is the freedom that all our citizens have to express their ideas, their concerns and their problems without any constraint from anyone.
E: Is one allowed to openly express themselves in Venezuela?
V: Of course, in Venezuela one can talk openly about anything , just like in the United States, Argentina or Colombia, we are an open country just like any other.
E: Would say that in your country the media does have the necessary protection in order to carry out their professions?
V: The media have all the security that the state can provide just like for the rest of its citizens, but there is no special protection for the media.
E: The high number of complaints that support the fact that in Venezuela one is not allowed to talk about corruption, scarcity or insecurity draw considerable attention.
V: There are media sources that say that one is not allowed to talk about just because they do not like the topic. The media talks about the issues that every country has to deal with, if Venezuela did not have these problems, then why would they be mentioned?
E: Does the media in Venezuela face some sort of pressure?
V: Not at all, we try to support the media to the extent of our possibilities. We give the same amount of support to both, the public and private media.
E: There has been 17 employees fired from Globovision and 34 resigned, among other reasons for ideological differences.
V: The government does not get involved with internal affairs of the private media sector.
E: Has your government pressured the members of Globovision?
V: We have given them our support in countless occasions.
E: It is interesting that the entrance of influential government employees to the television’s shares coincides with the firing of employees and pressure to resign.
V: The network needed money and to avoid more layoffs the government has shown its support to these citizens.
E: After the chief correspondent from Globovision was kidnapped, she declared that it was not possible for her to talk about what happened due to threats that she received. Is Venezuela’s government giving the proper protection to this journalist? Are they trying to silence her?
V: Venezuela’s government is investigating everything that occurred to this journalist. Just like any other kidnapping victim, and in order to avoid a misinterpretation o a leak of information, authorities have asked the victim to keep silent.
E: At one point, Chavez even insulted and threaten the press in front of the cameras. Do you believe that this type of issues could arise from such actions?
V: The commander is now dead but it is true that at some point, just like every other human being he had some sort of outburst. Just like parents do with their children, but without serious consequences.
E: The director of one of the most important newspapers in Venezuela has been sentenced to four years in jail and a hefty fine for broadcasting a series of reports related to corruption. In addition he has been banned from leaving the country.
V: A person who is under investigation is not allowed to leave the country.
E: According to Reporters Without Frontiers, Venezuela is one of the countries in Latin America with the least freedom of press. Have you thought of adopting any measures that would change this?
V: Venezuela’s government reaffirms the support they have towards the media. We invite you to go and visit our nation. In Venezuela the rates of violence have recently increased and we are working to reduce them. If we do not have support from all Latin-American members and if interventions on behalf of the American government continue there will be not much we could do against the economic block that is not allowing us to continue. We are using the few resources that we have to solve these problems.
E: Would you be willing, with the help of all the other member states of the Ibero-American Summit to open Venezuela?
V: Venezuela has always been open, for example the triumph of the Revolution of 39, but we continue to work, however this takes effort, time and cooperation.
E: Venezuela does not allow the entrance of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in their country.
V: What this commission wants is to enforce the impositions of the rights and interests of the US. We are not going to allow a north american government to indirectly interfere with this commission concerning the political, social, economical and overall state of the Venezuelan citizens.
E: There is 29 investigations against journalist, 22 newspaper editors that are banned from leaving the country for having shared information that links the second member of the Chavez cabinet Diosdado Cabello with drug-trafficking mafias. Does Venezuela attack the detractors and protect their favourites?
V: Venezuela protects all it’s citizens. We are a nation of more than 50 million citizens, that is not a small amount. We have nothing against the press: we reaffirm our support and again we invite you to our country and not to be influenced by other media, and to personally experience what Venezuela is really about.
E: Does the government use the media as propaganda?
V: The Venezuelan government uses the media to share the reality of all Latin America. Telesur Venezuela does not take its journalist to other states, it is them who expose the news from other countries. TeleSur shows the reality, the day to day Venezuela, not only to the rest of Latin America, but also to parts of Europe and Asia.
V: Not at all, if there is something to say it is said, and if there nothing to say then nothing will be said.
